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Writer's pictureRichard Lipscombe

Success is not tied to high performance


Challenger explodes 90 seconds down range

People all around the world make a "good living" training employees, staff, soldiers, athletes, men and women in all walks of life in high performance techniques. Most of these people are genuine and perform a much needed service to those who pay them.


The implied benefit of high performance is a guarantee of success. However even when high performance is achieved by the best-of-the-best the results can be major disasters [see photo]. And the pity is that many of these disasters were foretold by those who were not captured by the high performance cult. My experience has taught me that high performance techniques do work on individuals and this especially so for the top 5% of any profession. For the other 95% the impact of high performance techniques are not so impressive because most who are trained in these techniques do not ever get the opportunity to reap the benefits that they are designed to deliver.


NASA had high performance teams that really did benefit from the techniques they were well grounded in but they were at the absolute cutting-edge of space exploration. For example, NASA recruited 7,000 of the very best engineers in the world to build the Space Shuttle. It took around 10 years with a budget of $US 10 Billion [in 1970s dollars] to fulfil a 1969 plan to establish a re-usable space transport system [STS]. But, of course, there were many missteps along the way. However the big misstep was to continue running "a matrix organisation" of overlapping teams as the basis of management of the Shuttle Program. And despite all the high performance techniques deployed with engineers through to astronauts the matrix imploded just before Challenger [STS-51-L] left the pad. Challenger was around 90 seconds down range when she exploded [see photo] and killed all 7 people onboard.


My message here is that you should strive to become the very best that you can be but if you are not in the top 5% of your profession [or highly likely to make it] then do not waste much time or money on high performance training.


Richard.


You can discover your unique version of minimal-you in ten days if you do three things. First, eliminate collective wants. Second, automate individual habits. Third, recreate personal beliefs. You can do it, but, you will need to be dedicated and disciplined to make it happen. For more on moving out of the slow lane in life go to minimal-you.com


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